Day 01 - Embarkation in Port Everglades
November 28, 2018 - We are used to flights being delayed, but, when we arrived at Fort Lauderdale airport, we were surprised to learn that Silver Spirit's arrival at Port Everglades had been delayed! We were greeted at baggage claim by Murray, a Silversea representative, who informed us that the ship was late departing from Key West the day before due to high wind conditions. Early arriving guests were taken to a local hotel for lunch but our 3:00pm arrival allowed us to transfer directly to the cruise terminal.
Murray takes our luggage to the waiting van
Silver Spirit was already docked when we arrived at the cruise terminal, but we could see some guests from the previous cruise still boarding coaches bound for the airport or hotel. Even though we never see it as a guest, you can only imagine the logistics involved in re-booking hundreds of guests on later flights, or arranging for hotel rooms. A hotel has to be secured to feed guests arriving for the next cruise, and so on. Altering a cruise ship's schedule, even by just a few hours, can be a very costly for a cruise line. However, if the Captain feels it is unsafe to sail in high winds, he made the right decision.
Guests gather at the Port Everglades cruise terminal #2
As it turned out, embarkation was only delayed by about two hours. Guests were asked to line up inside the cruise terminal for a passport check and to obtain our stateroom keys, then we were directed to board Silver Spirit.
Checking in at Port Everglades
Once on board, we were greeted with Silversea's traditional glass of champagne and asked to check in at Reception where we surrendered our passports and had our photos taken for security reasons. We were escorted to our Superior Veranda Suite (808) where we met our butler, Aditya (or, Adi for short). Due to the ship's late arrival, the mandatory muster drill was moved from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. Silversea adheres to the policy of asking guests to bring life vests from their suites to the muster drill, a practice which some cruise lines have abandoned. After a safety talk and life vest demonstration, guests file outside to their assigned lifeboat area.
When we returned to our suite to put away our life vests, our luggage was waiting in the hallway. We decided we would unpack after dinner and chose to visit Atlantide, one of Silver Spirit's many restaurant venues. Atlantide is the closest thing you will find to a "traditional" cruise ship dining room on Silver Spirit. They are open each morning for breakfast, each afternoon for lunch, and each evening for dinner, with only the lunch menus changing daily. Reservations are not required to dine at Atlantide.
Rickee and I enjoying dinner at Atlantide
Rickee was delighted to receive a very large portion of caviar, with all the accouterments, as her starter. I opted for the Proscuitto platter. Both starters were very good.
Caviar starter
My soup course was the Lobster Bisque while Rickee chose the Leek and Potato soup.
Lobster Bisque being served
For our main course, I chose the NY Strip steak while Rickee decided on the Argentinian Estancia steak topped with chimicurri. Both steaks were cooked perfectly and were tender.
New York Strip
Rickee is the dessert eater so she ordered the lemon meringue pie, which turned out to be more like a lemon tart topped with, and surrounded by, dollops of toasted meringue. It was truly delicious and Rickee claims it to be one of the best desserts she has ever had.
Lemon Meringue Pie
After dinner, it was time to unpack and get ready for bed. Tomorrow is a day at sea as Silver Spirit sails to Grand Turk.
